brainpopfandomcom-20200223-history
Metric vs. Customary/Transcript
Transcript Title text reads, The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. Tim wears a silk robe as he sits beside a fireplace with a book. TIM: Hello. Welcome to Math-terpiece Theater. Get it? Math-terpiece? Heh, heh. Moby is dressed like a film director. He stands behind a video camera taping Tim. Moby beeps. TIM: I don’t know, I thought it was kinda cute… You know, masterpiece, math-terpiece… ha… yeth. Moby beeps. TIM: You're old enough? (sighs) Tim exclusively holds a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Metric can be boring, but I'm not sure was Metric vs. Customary looks like. Curious, George. (puts the letter down) Back where you came from, George. Metric is so boring! Isn't that right, Moby? Moby glares and beeps. He holds up a script. TIM: I know, I know, I'll stick to the script. Ahem. Once upon a time, there were two kings. Moby and Tim appear, wearing crowns. King Moby wears a royal robe and holds a scepter, while King Tim wears a business suit. TIM: One of the kings was very traditional. He wore a heavy golden crown, sat on a throne, and ruled with an iron fist. King Moby sits on his throne. A peasant bows before him. King Moby bonks the peasant on the head. TIM: No! No, he did not do that! Hitting people is wrong! But he was kind of stuck in the past, so he let his kingdom go on using the old customary system of weights and measures. A label appears, reading, customary system. Moby beeps. TIM: You know, units like feet, pounds, gallons, and miles. On-screen, images for each unit appear: a footprint for feet, a dumbbell for pounds, a plastic jug for gallons, and a highway for miles. TIM: The other king was a little more with it; he wore a regular suit to work. His kingdom used the metric system. On-screen, King Tim meets with some advisors around a table. A label reads, metric system. TIM: Those are units of measurement based on the meter and the gram. The meter is a unit of length equal to a bit more than 3 feet. On-screen, a meter stick appears next to 3 small rulers. A label reads, meter. TIM: And the gram is a unit of mass equal to about 1 large paperclip. On-screen, a gram weight appears next to a paper clip. A label reads, gram. Moby beeps. TIM: Well, metric measurements are divided up by units of 10. On-screen, a ruler and a measuring cup appear. The units on each are divided into tenths. TIM: So learning the different measurements in the metric kingdom was a snap! On-screen, a father sits on a couch watching television, as his son pesters him. SON: How many millimeters in a centimeter? FATHER: 10. SON: How many centimeters in a meter? FATHER: 100. SON: How many grams in a kilogram? FATHER: 1,000. TIM: Customary measurements are divided up by fractions people tend to use a lot, like quarters, eighths, thirds, and halves. On-screen, a ruler and a measuring cup appear. The units on the ruler are divided into eighths while the units on the cup are divided into fourths. A list of fractions reads, one-fourth, one-eighth, one-third, and one-half. TIM: That makes them useful for common, everyday measurements, but a real pain to convert to different units. On-screen, a chef studies a poster with a list of conversions: 8 ounces equals 1 cup; 16 ounces equals 1 pint; 2 pints equals 1 quart; and 128 ounces equals 1 gallon. TIM: And each kind of measurement has its own unique set of conversions! On-screen, an astronomer studies a list of conversions: 12 inches equals 1 foot, 3 feet equals 1 yard, 5,280 feet equals 1 mile. TIM: People in the metric kingdom didn’t have that problem. No matter what they measured, the units increased by factors of 10. On-screen, 3 columns appear. The first contains all of the metric units for volume between milliliter and kiloliter. The second contains all of the metric units for length between millimeter and kilometer. The third contains all of the metric units for mass between milligram and kilogram. TIM: That made it easy to express metric measurements as decimals, and to convert between different units. On-screen, a teacher writes a metric volume conversion on a chalkboard. It reads, 3.2 deciliters equals 32 centiliters equals 320 milliliters. TIM: Customary measurements were more often expressed as fractions, and weren’t so easy to convert to different units. On-screen, an alchemist writes a customary volume conversion on a chalkboard. It reads, 10 and four-fifths ounces equals an unknown number of gallons. Moby beeps. TIM: Well, eventually, all the other kingdoms switched over to the metric system. On-screen, a map appears showing several kingdoms. At first, all the kingdoms are labeled with crowns. Then, all the crowns, except one, are replaced by labels bearing the number 10. TIM: That made it hard for customary subjects to trade and communicate with others. They had no choice but to start using some metric measurements, and they started with their king. They overthrew him and sentenced him to a term of 10 years, 10 months, and 10 days in the dungeon. On-screen, King Moby is chained up in a dungeon. Moby beeps. TIM: Why 10? Well, the people who invented the metric system didn’t pick 10 randomly. It’s derived from the fact that we all have 10 fingers to count with! On-screen, Tim holds up his hands and frowns. He only has 4 fingers on each hand. TIM: Ahhh… 5, 6, 7, 8... hmm. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Math Transcripts